Means for supporting and driving mixer drums



1951 G. JAEGER 2,563,336

' MEANS FOR SUPPORTING AND DRIVING MIXER DRUMS I Filed May 9, 1950 v 2SheetS Sheet 1 INVENfOR Ge/wra Jagger" G. JAEGER MEANS FOR SUPPRTING ANDDRIVING MIXER DRUMS Aug. 7, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 9, 1950INVENTOR. Gab/90m Jagger BY- I ALTOR/VEYS Patented Aug. 7, 1951 UNITEDMEANS FOR SUPPORTING AND DRIVING MIXER DRUMS Gebhard .iaeger, Columbus,Ohio, assignor to The Jaeger Machine Company, Columbus, Ohio, a

corporation of Ohio Application May 9, 1950, Serial No. 161,034

Claims.

My invention relates to means for supporting and driving a mixer drum.It relates, more particularly, to means for supporting and driving themixer drum of a truck mixer, either of the horizontal drum type or ofthe inclined drum or high-dump type. The structure of my invention,however, is applicable to similar'installations in connection with othertypes of equipment.

The main object of my invention is to provide a novel mounting for thedriven end of the drum which permits initial proper alignment of thedrum on its supporting structure and compensates for slight-misalignmentof the drum on its sup porting structure that might occur during use ofthe mixer.

According to my invention, I provide a support for the mixer drum whichincludes the usual cradle structure for supporting the rear end of thedrum. The forward end of the drum, however, is supported by aself-contained trunnion bearing and driving structure. This self-contained driving and supporting structure comprises a housing whichcontains the driving gears and which supports a rearwardly projectingoutput shaft or trunnion. The drum is supported on the trunnion by meansof a driving member which is keyed to the trunnion that is, in turn,driven by the gears disposed in the housing. The driving member isprovided with driving portions which engage with driving portionscarried by a driven-supporting member secured to the fprW-ard end of thedrum and carrying a drum-supporting sleeve. This sleeve cooperateswith'a bearing hub on the driving member to support the drum on thetrunnion shaft. The sleeve is larger than the hub and I provide a,special arrangement between the sleeve and hearing hub to permit initialproper alignment of the drum and to compensate for misalignment duringuse of the mixer. This arrangement comprises a ball and socket joint inthe formof a separate bearing sleeve that fits on the hub of the drivingmember and that has a spherical outer surface which fits within aspherical socket formed within the drum-supporting sleeve by the drivenmember.

The preferred embodiment of my invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings wherein similar characters of reference designatecorrespcnding parts and wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view illustratin my invention applied toa mixing drum supported on an inclined axis.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken through the main part of mydrum supporting and driving means.

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken along line 33 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a detail in perspective of the driving connection betweenthe driving member and the driven-supporting member on the drum.

Figure 5 is a sectional view of a modification of the ball and socketjoint.

With reference to the drawings, I have illus-' trated in Figure 1 asupporting frame I which may be the frame of any suitable vehicle forcarrying the mixing drum 2. For example, the frame I may be mounted on atruck chassis. In this instance, the mixer drum 2 is on an inclined axisso that the truck mixer would be one of the high-dump type. The rear endof the inclined drum is supportedby cradle rollers 3 which are carriedby upstanding members 4 of the frame I, the rollers 3 engaging asupporting band 5 carried by the drum. The forward end of the drum 2 'iscarried and driven by the unit which we shall indicate generally by thenumeral 6.

The engine 1 supported at the forward end of the frame I will drive theconventional transmission 8 which is capable of forward and reversedrive and which may be provided with an output shaft for driving acentrifugal pump 9,. The main output shaft IU of the transmission willserve to drive the unit 6 through the medium of a universal drive llconnected to an enclosed gear reduction unit l2.

The unit 12 is in the form of a pedestal which supports .the unit 6. Theunit l2 includes ahousing is which encloses a group of gears [4 whichare in proper ratio and properly arranged to obtain the desiredreduction. The final driven gear I5 of the unit l2 meshes with the largedriven gear lb of the unit 5, as shown best in Figure 2.

It will be noted from Figure 2 that the unit 6 includes a housing H, inwhich the main part of the gear I6 is disposed, this housingcommunicating at its lower side with the housing It and the gear 16extending down into the housing !3. The housing I1 is mounted inforwardly tilted position on the upper end of the housing 13 by means ofan intermediate housing portion 18 to which the lower end of housing I!is bolted and the upper end of housing 13 is bolted. However, if theaxis of the drum 2 is horizontal, a different intermediate housingportion is substituted for the portion l8 to bring the housing portionll into vertical position.

' duced shaft section 21. A collar The gear [6 is keyed on a reducedportion I 3 of a trunnion shaft 26. This shaft 26 is carried by thehouhing IT. For supporting the shaft on the housing IT, a roller bearing2| is secured to the forward wall of the housing and a roller bearing 22is secured to the rear wall of the housing. The inner race of thebearing 22 engages the hub 23 of the gear H at the rear side thereofwhile the forward side of the hub is engaged by a thrust collar orspacer 24 which is engaged by the inner race of the bearing 2i. Thus,the shaft 26 is rotatably carried by the housing IT.

The shaft 26 extends rearwardly through the rear wall of the housing H.The projecting portion of this trunnion shaft,'which is the output shaftof the unit 6, carries a drum driving member 25 which is illustratedbest in Figures 3 and 4. The member 25 is provided witha hub 26 intowhich the reduced rear end 21 of shaft 26 projects and which is keyed tothe shaft by means of a key 23. The rear reduced extremity 29a of theshaft 20 is threaded to receive a nut 23 which fits into a cup 36 at therear side of the hub 26. This nut engages the shoulder 3| on the hub andkeeps the spider hub 26 in contact with a spacer sleeve 32 disposedbetween the hub and a shoulder 33 at the forward end of re- 3611 whichcarries a sealing ring 36b is provided on reduced shaft portion 290.andfits within the cup 36 to close it, the collar being held in fixedposition by set-screw 36c. Thus, the driving member 25 will bemaintained in a position spaced behind the housing I 1 on the shaft 26.

The driving member 25 is'provided with four driving notches 34' (Figures3 and 4) formed in its edge at 90 intervals. Each of these drivingnotches 34 is adapted to engage a forwardly projecting lug 35 carried bya driven member in the form of a bearing support 36 which is secured tothe forward end of the drum 2 by means of a ring 3611 welded betweenmember 36 and the frontwall of drum 2 and pins 361) which extend throughaligning openings in such wall and member 36 and are welded in position.The notches 34 receive the driving'lugs 35 when the drum 2 is positionedon the frame and bolts and collar units 31 (Figure 2) prevent pulling ofthe lugs 35 forwardly from the notches 34. It will be apparent thatalthough I have indicated that four sets of notches 34 and lugs 35 areprovided, it is to be understood that any desired number of such unitsmay be provided.

The member 36 carries at its center portion a two-part sleeve 38 whichis provided with a socket 39. This sleeve is formed by providing a hubportion 38a, which is integral with member 36 and welded to the drumwall, and a collar portion 38b which is provided with flange 360 that isbolted to the forward side of driven member 36 by bolts 38:2. The socket39 surrounds the hub 26 of the member 25 and is of considerably largerdiameter than the hub so that it can receive a separate bearing sleeve,preferably a metal sleeve 46. The bearing sleeve 46 closely surroundsthe hub 26 of driven member 25 and is provided with an exterior surfaceof spherical form. The inner wall of the socket 39, formed by members38a and 38b, is of complemental spherical form as shown in Figure 2.Thus a ball and socket effect is obtained. Lubricant may be forced intosocket 39 by means of fitting 38e in collar 382). A lubricant-retainingring seal 38f is provided in hub 38a and engages the outer surface ofbearing sleeve 46.

Sufilcient play is provided between the notches 34 and the lugs 35 topermit relative movement between members 36 and 25 due to misalignment,and bearing sleeve 38 can turn and rock on bearing sleeve 46 whennecessary to obtain initial alignment and permit limited misalignmentsubsequently, due to the ball and socket effect. It will be noted thatan annular space 38g is provided between hub 38a and hub 28 to permitrocking of bearing sleeve 38 on bearing sleeve 39.

In mounting the drum on the frame, the bearing sleeve 46 is firstpositioned within socket 33. Then after the unit 6 is properlypositioned, it is merely necessar to support the drum 2 on the cradlerollers and then slide it forwardly until the lugs 35 of member 36 slipinto the notches 34 of member 25 and the sleeve 46 slips over the hub26. Then the bolt units 31 are mounted on the lugs 35 to preventaccidental removal of the lugs from the notches. Because of theprovision of the sleeve 46 and the notches 34 and lugs 35. misalignmentof the drum on the frame will merely produce slight relative movementbetween the members 36 and 25, this being facilitated by the ball andsocket structure. The drum can be easily removed, if necessary, merelyby removing bolts 31 and moving the drum rearwardly to slide the lugs 35from the notches 34, the driving member 25 staying in position on theshaft 26. Thus, in removing the drum, it is not necessary to dismantlethe trunnion bearing. Due to the provision of the ball and socketbearing, the drum can be aligned initially relative to the unit 6without using shims, and subsequently any slight misalignment, whichmight be caused during operation of the truck by flexing of the frame,will be permitted.

The trunnion shaft 26 is preferably hollow so that a water passageway 44extends completely therethrough. The forward end of this passageway, asshown in Figure 1, is connected by a suitable swivel coupling 45 to awater pipe 46 leadin from the pump 9. The rear threaded end of the shaft26 has a water distributing hell 41 mounted thereon disposed within themixer drum 2.

As previously indicated, the driving and supporting unit of my inventioncan be used either with a horizontally disposed drum or an inclineddrum. When the drum is horizontally disposed, as previously indicated,the housing I I will be vertical. Therefore, the driven gear [6 will bevertical and a beveled gear need not be used as in the structure shownin Figure 2.

In Figure 5, I have illustrated a different arrangement of the ball andsocket structure. In this instance, the spherical bearing sleeve 46 isexactly as before. However, the sleeve 38h which slips over the sleeve46, and is carried by driven member 36, is made in one part instead oftwo parts. The mouth of the sleeve is widened, as at 382', so that itcan slip forwardly over sleeve 46 and is provided with a stop lip 387'at its rear side to limit this forward movement. The inclination of thedrum will be relied upon to keep the sleeve 38h forwardly in place onthe sleeve 46.

It will be apparent from the above description that I have provided anovel mixer drum supporting and driving mechanism. A number ofadvantages of this structure have been discussed and others will beapparent.

I Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. Apparatus for supporting and driving a rotatable mixer drum or thelike comprising a supporting frame, rollers on said frame for providinga cradle for supporting one end of the drum and means on the frame forsupporting the other end of the drum. said means comprising a trunnionshaft supported on said frame and projecting towards the end of thedrum, means for driving said shaft, a driving member having a hub keyedon said shaft, said member being provided with a plurality of drivingnotches in its periphery, a driven bearing support carried by theadjacent end of the drum and disposed adjacent the driving member at theinner side thereof, said support having a bearing sleeve surrounding thehub of said driving member and having a plurality of lugs spacedoutwardly from its axis which extend in an axial direction into saidnotches of the driving member, the sleeve of the driven bearing memberhaving a socket of larger diameter than the hub of the driving memberwhich it receives, and a bearing sleeve of non-compressible materialdisposed in said socket in surrounding relationship to said hub, saidsecond bearing sleeve having an outer spherical surface and said sockethaving its wall formed of non-compressible material and being of concavecomplemental form so as to bear directly against said spherical surfaceand to support the weight of the end of the drum, sufiicient play beingprovided between said lugs and notches to permit said first bearingsleeve to move on said second bearing sleeve to compensate for axialmisalignment between the mixer drum and the trunnion shaft.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said sleeve of the drivenbearing member is formed in two parts, one part comprising a hub portionon said member and the other part comprising a collar portion fastenedto said driven member in cooperative relationship with said hub portion.

3. Apparatus for supporting and driving a rotatable mixer drum or thelike comprising a supporting frame, means on said frame for supportingone end of the mixer drum to permit slight lateral movement of the axisof the drum, means on the frame for supporting the other end of thedrum, said means comprising a trunnion shaft supported on said frame andprojecting towards the end of the drum, means for driving said shaft, adriving member keyed on said shaft and a driven member carried by theadjacent end of the drum and disposed adjacent the driving member, saiddriving member and said driven member having interfitting drivingportions, said driven member having a bearing sleeve which surrounds ahub on said driving member, said sleeve having a socket of largerdiameter than said hub, and a bearing sleeve of non-compressiblematerial disposed in said socket in surrounding relationship to saidhub, said second bearing sleeve having a curved outer surface whichcooperates with a complementally curved surface of said socket which isformed of incompressible material and bears directly against said curvedouter surface of said second bearing sleeve so as to support the weightof the one end of said drum, suflicient play being provided between theinterfitting portions of said driving and driven member to permit saidfirst bearing sleeve to move on said second bearing sleeve to compensatefor axial misalignment between the mixer drum and the trunnion shaft.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said first bearing sleeveincludes a removable collar to facilitate insertion of the secondbearing sleeve in said socket.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the hub of the driven memberis spaced from the hub of the driving member at its end which is towardssaid supporting rollers to permit rocking of the first hearing sleeve onthe second bearing sleeve.

GEBHARD JAEGER.

REFERENCES 7 CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 792,536 Moran June 13, 1905934,834 Pointon et al Sept. 21, 1909 1,694,926 Peters Dec. 11, 19282,312,470 Julien Mar. 2, 1943 2,511,240 Bohmer et a1. June 13, 1950

